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Arachne, self-care and 'power-nets' on women's self-development programmes.

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Title: Arachne, self-care and 'power-nets' on women's self-development programmes.
Authors: Fixsen, Alison1 a.fixsen@westminster.ac.uk, Ridge, Damien1, Porter, Alan1
Source: Gender & Education. Oct2022, Vol. 34 Issue 7, p770-786. 17p. 2 Charts.
Subject Terms: *University & college employees, *Higher education, Soft skills, Feminism, Arachne (Greek mythology), Metaphor, Neoliberalism, Women employees
Abstract: Our article employs a feminist perspective to interpret ethnographic data on soft skills programmes (SSPs) for female staff in Higher Education (HE). We use the story of Arachne as a metaphor for how, under neoliberalism, women are instructed to create local 'nets of power,' only to find themselves tangled in a web of conflicting expectations. Our method was informed by Institutional Ethnography (IE). Data incorporated autoethnography, participant observation, in-depth interviews with female SSP participants from academia and corporate services, as well as document study. SSPs emerged as social spaces promoting self-care and entrepreneurial practices to predominantly female audiences. An entrepreneurial self was promoted on SSPs, ostensibly to inoculate women against stress and exploitation, but arguably to perpetuate a 'super-woman' work ethic. SSPs exemplify how women are kept busy with attending to their personal 'metamorphoses' as opposed to 'meddling' in the politics of institutions, distracted from feminist agendas that might address structural gender inequalities in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Gender & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Arachne, self-care and 'power-nets' on women's self-development programmes.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fixsen%2C+Alison%22">Fixsen, Alison</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> a.fixsen@westminster.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ridge%2C+Damien%22">Ridge, Damien</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Porter%2C+Alan%22">Porter, Alan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Gender+%26+Education%22">Gender & Education</searchLink>. Oct2022, Vol. 34 Issue 7, p770-786. 17p. 2 Charts.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22University+%26+college+employees%22">University & college employees</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+education%22">Higher education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Soft+skills%22">Soft skills</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Feminism%22">Feminism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Arachne+%28Greek+mythology%29%22">Arachne (Greek mythology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Metaphor%22">Metaphor</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Neoliberalism%22">Neoliberalism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Women+employees%22">Women employees</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Our article employs a feminist perspective to interpret ethnographic data on soft skills programmes (SSPs) for female staff in Higher Education (HE). We use the story of Arachne as a metaphor for how, under neoliberalism, women are instructed to create local 'nets of power,' only to find themselves tangled in a web of conflicting expectations. Our method was informed by Institutional Ethnography (IE). Data incorporated autoethnography, participant observation, in-depth interviews with female SSP participants from academia and corporate services, as well as document study. SSPs emerged as social spaces promoting self-care and entrepreneurial practices to predominantly female audiences. An entrepreneurial self was promoted on SSPs, ostensibly to inoculate women against stress and exploitation, but arguably to perpetuate a 'super-woman' work ethic. SSPs exemplify how women are kept busy with attending to their personal 'metamorphoses' as opposed to 'meddling' in the politics of institutions, distracted from feminist agendas that might address structural gender inequalities in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Gender & Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/09540253.2022.2078793
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Higher education
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      – SubjectFull: Soft skills
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      – SubjectFull: Feminism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Arachne (Greek mythology)
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      – SubjectFull: Neoliberalism
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      – SubjectFull: Women employees
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      – TitleFull: Arachne, self-care and 'power-nets' on women's self-development programmes.
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            NameFull: Fixsen, Alison
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            NameFull: Ridge, Damien
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            – D: 01
              M: 10
              Text: Oct2022
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              Value: 34
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